WANTED!

Highly Motivated Young Artists in 4th - 6th Grades

Who Want to Study Art in an Open Studio Setting

Fridays 4:00 to 5:00

Beginning March 2nd

Classes will begin with a sketchbook activity then students will work on their own, self-selected piece at their own pace. Student creations will be highlighted in the annual art show, June 3rd.

10 Class Sessions for $130

(That gives you 3 free Fridays between now and June!)

Additional sessions are $10

One-Time Materials/Registration Fee of $30  for New Students

Contact Melanie at otlartstudio@gmail.com or 757/472-6483 to register!

The Resemblance Is Uncanny

This is me...

...clearly and without question. Those of you who know me will recognize this at a glance. The long, flowy hair. The coy smile. The "beautiful dress". I float through the air as in a Chagall painting. Which is true. I often float. The fact that this was intended to be a very, very, sad "blue period" painting is of no matter. The artist is three and I imagine it's hard to pretend "sad" for very long when you're three. I did give them silver paint which made their wash water sparkly. How sad could they stay?

Starry Nights

I don't often post the results of projects, but these landscapes turned out so beautifully I can't resist. We studied Vincent Van Gogh, looked closely at the texture he created with his palette knife and discussed his use of colors in Starry Night. Then we dipped chalk pieces into tempera paint to approximate that depth and variation of color in our own landscapes. The instructions were there had to be a horizon line, at least one wavy cypress tree and at least one celestial body. Other than that, no rules. My intention was for the project to be just paint and chalk, but the effect wasn't quite what I'd hoped for. Once the paint dried we came back and added swirls and details with oil pastels. That's more like it! These works are by students aged 6 - 11. Enjoy!

Process versus Product

Paper Plate Projects
Which one shows the child's creativity? Which one was more FUN to make?
(Thank you to PreK and K Sharing)

Outside the Lines Young Artists' Studio is all about process. I try very hard to remember that if I'm doing my job right, many pieces created will not be frame or even refrigerator worthy in an adult's eyes. Often, more is learned by making a 'mess' than by making a giraffe. I say "I try very hard" because it is not easy to get a clear picture of the childhood experience through grown up eyes. You have to let some expectations go, remembering that kids, especially the very young, don't have any expectations at all. 

I ran across this blog entry at PreK and K Sharing that explains the process/product conundrum very well. It's where I got the paper plate image above and I hope you'll click through and read the article. You have to scroll down a bit and there's some "teacher speak" to wade through, but it is a nice explanation of why I do what I do.

Happy Holidays!

Here is our holiday gift to you:

Give the gift of ART!

Plenty of space available in the Wednesday 4:30 Elementary Class and the Thursday 1:00 PreK class. Sign up to start in January and get this cute stocking stuffer too!

Gum Ball Machines after Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud is a natural fit for young artists. What's more fun than ice cream and cake? With such a diverse age range (4 - 11), I often wonder how much of the lesson they retain, especially the Littles. Do they even remember who we learned about? So for this lesson, I focused on three pieces of information:
1. Our artist's name is Wayne Thiebaud.
2. He likes to draw and paint food (among other things).
3. He is still alive. (That may seem strange, but most of the artists we learn about are long dead. I think it's important that the children know that artists are creating everyday.)


We looked at pictures of Thiebaud's work in a sweet (pun intended) little book called Counting with Wayne Thiebaud. It was too young for my Bigs so we focused on the media he used to create each piece. Most were pastels or oils which fit nicely with our project.


They were fascinated that he was still alive and working. I showed them a recent picture of him and the consensus was that he looks like somebody's grandfather. But how to teach that complicated name so they'd remember?

Ta da! Worked like a charm! Periodically I'd ask them to answer one of my three questions and if they got it right they were allowed to push the little gum ball machine down which makes the gum balls fly into the air. Boy they loved that!


The Littles used crayons and  tracers for the rectangle base and circle globe, then dipped bottle caps into paint for the gum balls.

Age 4

 Age 5

Age 6

The Bigs had an additional term to learn: Pop Art. They simply interpreted their gum ball machines in oil pastels. I did point out the colors Thiebaud used for the glass because every one of them automatically reached for black.

 Age 6! Check out the shadow!

 Age 9

Age 8